Fun Virtual Museum Field Trip Apps for Kids

There are more than 900,000 apps and counting, raking in more than $25 billion annually, news.com.au reports. The upside to a market stuffed with apps is that there are plenty of educational ways to keep kids entertained. But the downside is, with nearly a million apps to choose from, it’s hard to know where to start.

Launch your app search for the kids with virtual field trips in mind. Here is a round-up of some of the world’s best museums and the apps that take your kids on an exploration without leaving behind their gadgets.

Majestic Building of the Guggenheim

When the Guggenheim Museum opened its doors in New York City in 1959, admission cost just $0.50. Now you can see it for free with its museum app. According to Guggenheim.org, you can check out the Guggenheim app for a look at the building’s architecture, and access collection guides.

If your kids are studying foreign languages, choose the collection guides in French, German, Italian, or Spanish. You can learn about more than 1,300 works at the museum with the help of audio and video.

Dinosaurs of the American Museum of Natural History

Explore the American Museum of Natural History with its impressive Explorer app. The part-custom navigation system, part-tour guide, shows kids everything from the museum hallways, to a virtual look at the dinosaur age. Explorer, found at AMNH.org, has plenty of Museum-designed tours, but if your kids are particularly interested in fossils or space, they can design their own tour right on the app.

Artists Speaking on Getty Museum App

Download the Getty Museum app to explore art exhibition galleries with more than 40 audio commentaries. If your kids learn better with audio than images, Getty offers interviews with artists speaking about their own work. Kids can also check out works of art, photographs and archival materials.

The Getty Museum’s Los Angeles location also makes an appearance, where kids can learn about the city’s contribution to the art scene, according to Getty.edu.

Early Guitar Heroes: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Moms with music lovers in the house should check out the Met’s multimedia Guitar Hero app. As outlined on MetMuseum.org’s blog, its clever name gives a nod to the museum’s special exhibition named Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York.

Take your kids to a guitar shop before poring through the app. Guitar Heroes teaches users a lesson on guitar makers, the creative process and the inner workings of many recordings, as the Apple store notes.

Free Museum Admission Via Google Field Trip

Don’t forget to download the Google Field Trip app, now that you have the scoop on museum apps. Get out of the house, and launch Google Field Trip for an interactive lesson that follows you through your day. As Mashable reports, the app can tell you about the history of a nearby statue or old warehouse facade.

Google Field Trip also provides a map view, recommendations on places to see, and categories such as Outdoor Art to narrow down the choices. But perhaps best of all, Google Field Trip offers free admission to more than 20 museums. Just walk near the attraction, and a free pass appears to museums such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

There are thousands of free museum apps on the market, so start exploring based on your kids’ interests. Then, load up Google Field Trip on your Samsung Galaxy at T-Mobile, or similar mobile rig, and and start your journey.

Popwuping is a guide to mobile culture and mobile lifestyle. Everyday I sift through the most interesting artifacts, reports, trends and insights, trying to make sense of an increasingly mobile society and share what inspires me.